Great Performances - Season 53

Episode 1

The Magic of Grace Bumbry

Discover Grace Bumbry’s inspiring rise to global opera fame. Spotlighting her historic performances, the film explores the racial barriers she overcame to triumph in her 1966 performance as "Carmen."

Episode 2

Great Performances at the Met: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside Jack Swanson, in his Met d

Episode 3

Tiler Peck: Suspending Time

Follow acclaimed ballerina Tiler Peck as she overcomes injury to reclaim her place on stage and debut her own choreography with New York City Ballet, revealing the resilience and artistry behind a mod

Episode 4

Twelfth Night

The Shakespearean comedy of mistaken identity tells the romantic misadventures of twins Sebastian and Viola after they survive a shipwreck, including revenge plots and tricks of love. Recorded this su

Episode 5

Nutcracker from English National Ballet

Experience the holiday classic in a new light, featuring over 100 dancers and musicians performing at the London Coliseum.

Episode 6

From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2026

The famed Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with its annual concert from Vienna's Musikverein conducted for the first time by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with performances by the Vienna State Ballet

Episode 7

Movies for Grownups® Awards 2026 with AARP The Magazine

Iconic and beloved screen and stage performer Alan Cumming returns as host for this awards show in which Adam Sandler receives the Career Achievement Award.

Episode 8

Samara Joy at Royal Albert Hall

A number one album and a double Grammy-win in 2023 put jazz vocalist Samara Joy on the map, officially establishing the Bronx native as the next jazz sensation and a legend in the making, with frequen

Episode 9

Great Performances at the Met: La Bohème

Experience Zeffirelli’s beloved production set in 19th-century Paris telling the story of Puccini’s young artists and lovers that share joy, passion, and heartbreak featuring Juliana Grigoryan as Mimì

Episode 10

Great Performances at the Met: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

In this new adaptation of Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel set shortly before the outbreak of World War II, two Jewish cousins invent an anti-fascist superhero and launch their own comic-

Episode 11

Now Hear This – “Brahms: Free But Alone”

Johannes Brahms was a quiet, private person, but he lived a full life, bearing a responsibility he didn’t want, a woman he couldn’t be with, and a legacy he couldn’t live up to. Scott Yoo journeys acr

Episode 12

Now Hear This – “Everyone Loves Joplin”

Scott Joplin was the king of ragtime, a new kind music for the turn of the 20th century. Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra takes Scott Yoo back in time to experience the music, movies and styl

Episode 13

Now Hear This – “Everyone Loves Joplin”

Scott Joplin was the king of ragtime, a new kind music for the turn of the 20th century. Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra takes Scott Yoo back in time to experience the music, movies and styl

Episode 14

Suffs

Created by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, this musical recorded from Broadway tells the story of the American suffragist movement and the remarkable friendships, heartbreak, and action that brought wo

Episode 15

Now Hear This – “The Call of Istanbul”

Istanbul sits at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, a melting pot of diverse peoples, languages and ideas. With star Turkish pianist Fazil Say, conductor Çem Mansur, and a host of Anatolian folk and T

Episode 16

Now Hear This – “The Iceland Sound”

Fewer people live in Iceland than in Wichita, Kansas, yet it produces some of the best musicians in the world. To find out how, Scott Yoo crosses this sunlit, rainy, volcanic land of extremes to meet

Episode 17

Suffs

Created by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, this musical recorded from Broadway tells the story of the American suffragist movement and the remarkable friendships, heartbreak, and action that brought wo

Episode 18

Irving Berlin’s Top Hat

Inspired by the iconic 1935 movie musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival recorded from the West End in January 2026 is directed and choreog

Episode 19

An Evening with Nicole Scherzinger

Recorded in October 2025, Nicole Scherzinger performs at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the first time in her first major UK solo show in 13 years. Accompanied by a full orchestra, Scherzinger sings a

Episode 20

Great Performances at the Met: Arabella

Strauss’ romance brings the glamour of 19th-century Vienna to the Met stage in a production by legendary Otto Schenk. Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen makes her role debut as Arabella, a young noblewoma

Episode 21

An Evening with Nicole Scherzinger

Recorded in October 2025, Nicole Scherzinger performs at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the first time in her first major UK solo show in 13 years. Accompanied by a full orchestra, Scherzinger sings a